Growing faith in being present

I’ve found that I can trust thoughts and actions that come to me spontaneously when I’m present as being optimal.

For most of my life I’ve tried to make things happen in the physical world that I thought would bring me love, joy and high self esteem. When I reflected back over my life, those efforts, with a few notable exceptions, have failed. What has worked is listening to myself in the present moment.

Here are some examples:

I thought closing a lot of deals and the income they provided would result in me feeling good about myself and having greater peace. It did neither. Accepting my capacity to articulate and make practical universal wisdom has done both. Accepting and employing my innate talents gives me self confidence that commercial success never has.

Coming out of college I interviewed for chemical engineering jobs. Through unplanned events I ended up selling chemicals to manufacturing plants. In retrospect I see that was the perfect job for me even though it was a job I never considered or applied for.

For many years I thought if I was totally focused in the present moment I wouldn’t function effectively in the world. I thought I’d miss appointments, wouldn’t pay bills on time, wouldn’t earn a living and so on. As I focus more and more on the present I find none of that is true. Everything goes better, especially increasing my experience of love, the peace I experience and greater self esteem.

Relying on self acceptance for my happiness rather than other people is a huge relief. Finally, I relate to being in control of what’s important to me rather than the stress of thinking my happiness and well being are controlled by others.